New Hezbollah manifesto In a televised speech given from an unknown location, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has announced a new manifesto for the Lebanese Shia movement, which focuses mainly on military resistance to Israel and the necessity of maintaining an armed resistance movement. According to Reuters, the speech also marked a change in the Islamist rhetoric of Hezbollah, with the new manifesto – the movement’s second since its inception in 1982 – dropping references to an Islamic republic in Lebanon. UK yacht seized by Iran Five UK citizens have been detained in Iran after inadvertently sailing into Iranian waters whilst on board a Sail Bahrain yacht, according to UK Foreign Secretary David Milliband. The crew members are understood to be safe and well. Tensions between the UK and Iran have been fraught in recent months, during which the Iranian regime has accused the UK of being complicit in supporting the anti-Ahmadinejad protests in June, and Grand Ayatollah Khamanei has referred to the UK as “the Great Satanâ€. This is not the first time British sailors have been detained by Iranian naval forces. In 2007, 15 members of the British navy were forced into an embarrassing televised apology for sailing into Iranian waters. Obama set to order Afghanistan surge According to White House officials, US President Barack Obama has told military chiefs how many troops he will commit to sending to Afghanistan – a reported 30,000 troops. The announcement is expected to be made in a public address on Tuesday, in which Obama will also reaffirm his ongoing commitment to “finishing the job†in Afghanistan. The US currently has 68,000 troops based in Afghanistan, and Gen Stanley McChrystal – the man in charge of US forces – had asked for a further 40,000 soldiers. The “surge†strategy has drawn criticism from some analysts, who think trying to repeat strategy used in Iraq will not be successful in an Afghan context. Dubai World debts not guaranteed, markets take hit As Dubai’s financial position seems to get more precarious by the day, and with the country’s stock market losing 7.3%, the government has shocked creditors by saying it will not guarantee Dubai World’s debt. The link between business and government in Dubai is considered a grey area, however it is thought that most creditors entered into loans with Dubai World on the assumption that the loans were guaranteed. Meanwhile, neighbouring Abu Dhabi has offered a limited help package, whereby the government will “look at Dubai's commitments and approach them on a case-by-case basis,” an Abu Dhabi government official said on Saturday. “It does not mean that Abu Dhabi will underwrite all of their debts,” he added. BM
